Systems and methods for mold creation

Abstract

A mold for use in molding a surface of a component is formed from separate building blocks that are assembled together so that mold surface segments associated with each of the building blocks line up to form one contiguous mold surface that corresponds with the shape of the mold. The building blocks can be formed to have integral formations for connecting them together. The building blocks can be formed by modeling the contiguous mold surface, dividing this first mold model into sections which define discrete building block models, and then forming each building block separately based on the discrete building block models. For instance, the individual block models can be assigned to different additive manufacturing machines and then later be assembled together at a final location.

1 . A mold for use in molding a component, the mold comprising:
 a plurality of separately formed building blocks assembled together to form the mold, at least some of the building blocks having mold surface segments, the assembled building blocks arranging the mold surface segments to form at least one contiguous mold surface that corresponds with a shape of the component such that the component can be formed in the mold against the at least one contiguous mold surface.   
     
     
         2 . A mold as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein each building block includes a top, a bottom, and a plurality of sides extending heightwise from the bottom to the top. 
     
     
         3 . A mold as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein at least some of the building blocks that have mold surface segments are in side-by-side engagement in the assembled mold. 
     
     
         4 . A mold as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein each building block includes an integral formation for connecting the building block to at least one adjacent building block in the assembled mold. 
     
     
         5 . A mold as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein each building block is formed from a single piece of material. 
     
     
         6 . A mold as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein each building block is formed by additive manufacturing. 
     
     
         7 . A method for creating a mold for use in molding a surface of a component, the method comprising:
 receiving a three-dimensional component model of at least the surface of the component;   creating, via at least one processor, a three-dimensional mold model of a mold having a mold surface that is a negative of the surface of the component;   dividing, via the at least one processor, the three-dimensional mold model into a plurality of three-dimensional building block models, each three-dimensional building block model corresponding to a respective portion of the three-dimensional mold model;   physically constructing a building block for each of the three-dimensional building block models; and   coupling the physically constructed building blocks together to form the mold.   
     
     
         8 . A method for creating a mold for use in molding a surface of a component, the method comprising:
 creating digital representations of a plurality of building blocks;   assigning the digital representations of the plurality of building blocks to a plurality of additive manufacturing machines;   constructing each of the building blocks using the additive manufacturing machine to which the respective digital representation was assigned;   collecting the building blocks in a single location; and   assembling the building blocks together to form the mold.